Enhancing Microsimulation Models for Improved Work Zone Planning: Car-Following Data from Western Massachusetts (Instances)
datahub.transportation.gov | Last Updated 1 May 2024The data describe freeway car-following behavior (such as velocity, acceleration, and relative position) for the car-following instances observed during 6 data collection runs, collected using an Instrumented Research Vehicle (IRV) along freeways and arterials in western Massachusetts in the summer of 2016 to better understand work zone driver behaviors. The USDOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) identified, isolated, and classified individual car following instances from within the raw datasets (classification parameters included roadway type, level of congestion, and speed limit), then processed, refined, and cleaned the dataset. This table contains the car-following instances recorded by Volpe staff. See also the runs table (https://datahub.transportation.gov/Automobiles/Enhancing-Microsimulation-Models-for-Improved-Work/b3k6-qwyh) and radar table (https://datahub.transportation.gov/Automobiles/Enhancing-Microsimulation-Models-for-Improved-Work/4qbx-egtn).
This dataset has the following 20 columns:
| Column Name | API Column Name | Data Type | Description | Sample Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| global_instance_id | global_instance_id | number | Unique identifier of each instance record (primary key). Defined by (run_id*1000 + run_instance_id) | 602017 402034 801012 902017 502004 view top 100 |
| run_id | run_id | number | ID of the data collection run (foreign key to runs table) | 702 602 401 902 402 view top 100 |
| run_instance_id | run_instance_id | number | An ID was assigned by the data processing team to each car-following instance recorded during each driver’s run. Note that this count resets for each driver. | 11 16 12 10 1 view top 100 |
| parent_instance_id | parent_instance_id | number | During some car-following instances, the road characteristics (road_type, congestion, or speed_limit) changed while the same leader/follower pair continued to follow each other. These instances are represented by multiple records in the table, which have the same parent_instance_id but different run_instance_id values. | 3 4 17 16 19 view top 100 |
| leader_radar | leader_radar | number | Records the sensor that was used to measure information about the lead vehicle. Valid values are: 0: The lead vehicle was detected by the front radar. 1: The lead vehicle was detected by the rear radar. 10: The IRV is the lead vehicle. | 0 10 view top 100 |
| leader_veh_type | leader_veh_type | text | A description of the type of the lead vehicle. Valid values are: PC: passenger car. HV: heavy vehicle. B: bus. M: motorcycle. | pc hv view top 100 |
| follower_radar | follower_radar | number | Records the sensor that was used to measure information about the following vehicle. Valid values are: 0: The following vehicle was detected by the front radar. 1: The following vehicle was detected by the rear radar. 10: The IRV is the following vehicle. | 10 1 view top 100 |
| follower_veh_type | follower_veh_type | text | A description of the type of the following vehicle. Valid values are: PC: passenger car. HV: heavy vehicle. B: bus. M: motorcycle. | pc hv view top 100 |
| start_time | start_time | text | The start time of the car-following instance, measured since the start of the data collection run, in HH:MM:SS.sss format. | 00:19:55.410 00:11:57.860 00:43:33.960 00:30:28.290 00:30:49.420 view top 100 |
| end_time | end_time | text | The end time of the car-following instance, measured since the start of the data collection run, in HH:MM:SS.sss format. | 00:32:36.220 00:07:50.410 00:31:49.020 00:14:02.520 00:04:54.450 view top 100 |
| road_type | road_type | text | A description of the road the vehicle is traveling on. Valid values are: HW: Highway. A U.S. or State route, which is not an interstate. IS: Interstate. A numbered Interstate highway with two or more lanes. In this dataset, this is I-91. AW: Advanced Warning. The vehicle is traveling on the freeway towards the work zone. The vehicle has already passed advanced warning signage for the work zone (ex. "Work Zone in 1 mile") TZ: Taper Zone. The vehicle is entering and/or traversing the freeway work zone's taper zone WZ1: Work Zone with Lane Closure. The vehicle is traversing the buffer zone and/or the work zone, for a freeway work zone with lane closure. WZ2: Work Zone without Lane Closure. The vehicle is traversing the buffer zone and/or the work zone, for a freeway work zone without lane closure. Because some work zones traversed along this route were collected on arterials as well as freeways, “HW” or “IS” are appended to the end of codes AW, TZ, WZ1, WZ2 to indicate the type of road being worked on. | is hw awis wz2is wz1hw view top 100 |
| congestion | congestion | text | Records the traffic conditions. Valid values are: C: Congested. Because of surrounding traffic, the travel speed of the subject vehicle is below 35 mph (or 15.6 m/s) in a non-work zone, or below 25 mph (or 11.1 m/s) in a work zone. U: Uncongested. Traffic conditions allow the subject vehicle to travel 35 mph (or 15.6 m/s) or faster in a non-work zone, or 25 mph (or 11.1 m/s) or faster in a work zone. | u c view top 100 |
| speed_limit | speed_limit | number | The speed limit of the section of route on which the driver is traveling, in miles per hour. | 65 45 40 35 55 view top 100 |
| rural_urban | rural_urban | text | Whether the road is urban or rural. Valid values are: U: Urban. Instances within 2 miles of an on-ramp or off-ramp to Springfield, MA are considered urban. R: Rural. Other instances are considered rural. | r u view top 100 |
| num_lanes | num_lanes | number | Number of travel lanes in the direction of travel. | 2 3 1 4 view top 100 |
| current_lane | current_lane | number | Current travel lane, numbered from 1 (leftmost lane) to num_lanes (rightmost lane). | 2 1 3 4 view top 100 |
| signage | signage | text | Temporary signage in the advanced warning zone, or message board signage in the taper zone. Valid values include: W20-1, W20-3, W4-2, W20-4, W8-1: see MUTCD sign designations for description. FA: flashing arrow on message board. Multiple values can be present in this field (comma-separated). | w20-1 fa w20-1,w4-2 w20-1,w8-1 w20-1,w20-3,w4-2 view top 100 |
| wz_markers | wz_markers | text | This field indicates the type of physical delineators used in the work zone. Valid values include: C: Cones. D: Drums or Barrels. JB: Jersey Barriers. Multiple values can be present in this field (comma-separated). | d d,jb jb c,d faonly view top 100 |
| wz_status | wz_status | text | Indicates if the work zone is passive or active. Valid values include: P: no workers present; A: active work zone, workers present. | p a view top 100 |
| wz_enforcement | wz_enforcement | checkbox | Whether law enforcement vehicles or officers were present at the time of data capture. Valid values include: Y: yes; N: no. | false true view top 100 |